State Meets Family Of Mistaken Raid Internal Investigation Could Change The Way Pa. Conducts Drug Searches

July 24, 1993|by CHRISTOPHER HEREDIA, The Morning Call

As part of an internal investigation that could affect how drug raids are conducted throughout Pennsylvania, the state attorney general's office last night met with an Allentown family to begin piecing together what led to a mistaken raid on their home this week.

"It's very important to us that people understand that we are not treating this cavalierly," said Robert Gentzel, spokesman for state Attorney General Ernie Preate. "We don't like this to happen. It shouldn't have happened, and we want to know what went wrong."

Internal affairs officer Luther Henry and another officer with the attorney general's office met with Elizabeth and Brian Davis in the living room of their rowhouse on N. 16th Street last night.

In a phone interview after the meeting, Elizabeth Davis said she felt some relief after the two-hour meeting.

"We did have a sense of satisfaction because they assured us that we were not under any suspicion of wrongdoing whatsoever," Davis said. "They asked us a lot of questions about how the whole thing was carried out, the whole history of what had let up to it."

State narcotics agents, backed by Allentown police officers, burst into the Davises' home shortly after sunrise Monday in search of an illegal drug laboratory. However, after strip-searching Elizabeth Davis and interrogating her husband at gunpoint, the agents discovered no drug lab existed.

The search warrant, used by the agents, was based only on a complaint from the Davises' next-door neighbor who said she smelled something like cat urine from the other side of the common wall. Illegal labs that produce the narcotic methamphetamine, or "speed," emit a smell like cat urine, an agent explained.

"In Attorney General Preate's view, it's a two-part question: Did they (investigators) fail? And if they failed to follow established procedures, then clearly that's a problem," Gentzel said. "And if established procedures were followed, then he would say, `You need to take another look at established procedures.'"

Ultimately, Gentzel said, the investigation could cause a shift in how drug searches are conducted throughout Pennsylvania.

"It (the investigation) is not just to review this operation," Gentzel said. "It's also to see if there are any changes needed in policy and procedure and what additional steps might have been taken to avoid something like this."

The Davises asked that last night's meeting be conducted without reporters present, but afterward, Elizabeth Davis said she got no sense of closure from Henry.

"They did not make any attempt to say, `This is it.'" Davis said. "I do remember him saying, `I'm not offering any quick remedies or quick fixes.'

"We want to talk over what happened (with the attorney)," she added. "I wouldn't rule it (a lawsuit) out. The lawyer said we are thinking of suing the (Allentown) police, but we really haven't begun the process yet."

Gentzel gave some insight as to how the investigation might take place.

"Mr. Henry is going to be talking to many people who were involved one way or another in this search," Gentzel said. "It (the investigation) is going to give them (the Davises) a chance to talk about their reactions. We want to hear from them about how the raid was conducted and how they were treated.

"I'm sure that he (Henry) will be conveying to them the attorney general office's regrets that this occurred, that they were subjected to this ordeal," Gentzel said.